This Day in Baseball History
August 9th

"COME AT ONCE STOP VERY SORRY STOP YOUR FATHER DEAD IN SHOOTING ACCIDENT STOP HURRY." - telegram sent to Ty Cobb by Joe Cunningham, a long-time hometown Royston friend.

Ty Cobb, playing for the Augusta Tourists of the South Atlantic League, receives a telegram sent by his long-time hometown Royston friend Joe Cunningham informing him that his father Professor W. H. Cobb has been killed in a shooting accident the previous night. The incident, which will have profound effect on the life of the 18 year-old minor leaguer, will become a sordid affair when it is revealed that his mother pulled the trigger.

1906

Cubs right-hander Jack Taylor, who will amass a lifetime record of 152-139 along with an ERA of 2.66, goes the distance, beating Brooklyn at Washington Park, 5-3. The victory will be the last of his 187 consecutive complete games, an amazing streak which began on June 20, 1901 with a 2-0 loss in Boston.

1916

The Philadelphia A's twenty-game losing streak ends when Joe Bush beats the Tigers, 7-1. The 20-80 club has won only three of their prior 43 contests, with lone victories during the stretch snapping skids of twelve and nine consecutive defeats.

1939

Yankee third baseman Red Rolfe begins an eighteen-game scoring streak. The Penacook, New Hampshire native will score thirty runs during this period of time.

1946

In MLB's version of Friday Night Lights, all eight games, scheduled in eight different cities, will be played under the lights. It will be the first time in the major league history that every team will participate in an evening tilt on the same night.

1949

Dom DiMaggio, hitless in his first four at bats against Yankee hurler Vic Raschi, sees his 34-game hitting streak comes to an end. The Red Sox outfielder's older brother Joe makes a shoestring catch in the eighth inning, taking his sibling's last chance to extend the streak.

1961

The Reds continue their domination of the hapless Phillies by winning their 16th straight game against the inept squad, who have won just one contest in their last 19 tries. Joey Jay's 5-0 whitewash is the 13th loss in a row for Philadelphia, the club's longest losing streak in 25 years.

1963

One loss shy of tying the major league record of 19 consecutive defeats, Roger Craig switches his uniform number to 13 in an attempt to change his luck. The move appears to work when Jim Hickman lofts a short fly ball in the ninth inning with two outs and the bases-full in a tie game, that just ticks the upper-deck overhang in left field at the Polo Grounds for a walk-off grand slam, giving the Mets an improbable 7-3 victory over the Cubs.

1963

Lindy McDaniel becomes the second pitcher in major league history to give up a pair of game-ending grand slams in the same season when Mets pinch-hitter Jim Hickman goes deep, giving the Mets a dramatic 7-3 victory over the Cubs at the Polo Grounds. The Chicago right-hander, who also allowed Houston's Bob Aspromonte to end a game with a bases full walk-off round-tripper in June, joins Satchel Paige (1952) in accomplishing the infamous deed.

1963

Jim Hickman hits a ninth-inning grand slam off reliever Lindy McDaniel, giving the Mets a two-out walk-off 7-3 victory over Chicago at the Polo Grounds. The game-winning round-tripper, a pop fly that grazes the overhang extending from the left field upper deck, ends Roger Craig's 18-game losing streak.

1964

After throwing a perfect game on Father's Day against the Mets, Phillies right-hander Jim Bunning continues his mastery over New York, retiring a total of 44 New York batters in a row. Joe Christopher beats out a two-out bunt in the fifth inning to finally end the right-hander's perfection over the Amazins'.

1975

At Shea Stadium, Davey Lopes steals his 32nd consecutive base without being caught, breaking Max Carey's 1922 record in the Dodgers' 2-0 victory over New York. The Dodger second baseman's mark will be broken by Vince Coleman in 1989.

1976

Cal Hubbard, with his induction to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as an umpire, becomes the first professional athlete to be elected into two Halls of Fame. In 1963, the Missouri native was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a result of his outstanding performance on the gridiron with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.

1976

John Candelaria becomes the first Pirate since 1907 to throw a no-hitter in Pittsburgh. Nick Maddox threw the first and only Buc home no-hitter until the 'Candyman' beat the Dodgers at Three Rivers Stadium. (There was never a no-hitter pitched in the 61-year history of spacious Forbes Field.)

1981

Major league baseball returns in a big way from its in-season strike as 72,086 fans attend the belated All-Star game, a 5-4 National League victory over the Junior Circuit at Cleveland Stadium. Giants southpaw Vida Blue becomes the first pitcher to win an All-Star game for both leagues, and Expo backstop Gary Carter, who hits two home runs, is named the MVP of the Mid-Summer Classic.

1988

After 5,687 consecutive contests take place during the day at the Chicago Northside ballpark dating back to 1914, the first official major league night game is played at Wrigley Field with the hometown Cubs taking a 6-4 decision from the Mets. The historic event was scheduled for last night, but the contest against the Phillies was rained out after the third inning.

1996

Cal Ripken records his 2,500th career hit with a a single off White Sox right-hander Bill Simas in the Orioles' 4-3 loss to Chicago in 10-innings. The Baltimore infielder will end his 21-year career with a total of 3,184 hits.

1998

The Expos draw a total of 757 dogs during the team's Dog Day promotion. Montreal's 8-2 victory over Arizona featured a pre-game parade of the dogs and their owners on the field.

1998

Dennis Eckersley, throwing a perfect eighth inning in the Red Sox' 14-8 victory over Texas, ties Kent Tekulve for second on the all-time list with 1,050 appearances by a pitcher. Hoyt Wilhelm is the over-all leader with 1,070, a record the 'Eck' will surpass in his final major league game on September 26.

1998

Dennis Martinez, with his 244th victory, surpasses Juan Marichal to become the winningest Latin American pitcher in major league baseball history. The Nicaraguan right-hander, known as 'El Presidente', pitches a perfect eighth inning in the Braves' 7-5 victory over the San Francisco.

1999

For the first time in major league history, five grand slams are hit in a single day. Cardinal Fernando Tatis, Expo Jose Vidro, Marlin Mike Lowell, Yankee Bernie Williams, and Mariner Jay Buhner all connect to set the record. (Lowell, Williams, and Buhner all played for the Columbus Clippers - thanks to Steve Basford for this interesting aside.)

1999

The Blue Jays bang out 25 hits in a 19-4 rout of the Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington. The total, which includes six doubles and four home runs, establishes a new franchise mark for hits.

2002

Barry Bonds joins Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron as the only players ever to hit 600 career home runs. The 38 year-old Giant left fielder hit the milestone homer in the sixth inning by lining a 2-1 pitch thrown by Pirates starter Kip Wells over the center field wall at Pacific Bell Park.

2002

At the age of 26 years and 182 days, Vladimir Guerrero hits his 200th career home run, tying the Expos right fielder with Ken Griffey, Jr. as the second-youngest player to reach the 200 homer plateau. Alex Rodriguez is the youngest major leaguer to reach the 200 homer mark, reaching the milestone in 25 years 290 days.

2005

An arbitrator rules Kenny Rogers, who has missed 13 games, should be reinstated. The decision states the punishment for shoving two cameramen handed down by Bud Selig went too far in suspending the Ranger pitcher for 20 games and in levying an excessive $50,000 fine.

2006

Mike Piazza belts two home runs off Mets ace Pedro Martinez and nearly hits a third one in the eighth inning during a 4-3 Padres loss in New York. The Big Apple fans give their former hometown hero an uncommon road curtain call after the round tripper, but aren't so kind the second time the backstop goes deep as he is greeted with boos and catcalls.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration commemorating the Giants' move to San Francisco, the team honors their greatest outfielders. Barry Bonds, thought not to be in attendance for the event, receives a standing ovation accompanied by a loud approval from the surprised fans when his name is announced and takes part of the ceremony telling the crowd, "It feels awful to me not to be in uniform and the Dodgers are right here".

2008

Micah Hoffpauir ties a modern Pacific Coast League record by homering in his first four at-bats in the Iowa Cubs' 15-3 rout over the Round Rock Express. The 28 year-old slugging first baseman becomes the third player in the history of the storied PCL to go deep in four consecutive at-bats and the fifth to accomplish the feat in one game.

2010

Citing he has lost confidence in his manager, Mariner GM Jack Zduriencik fires Don Wakamatsu and three coaches. Triple-A Tacoma manager Daren Brown is named as the interim pilot of the last-place club (42-70), becoming the team's fifth skipper in a little more than three years.

2010

The front-running Reds obtain 40 year-old veteran Jim Edmonds from the Brewers in exchange for Chris Dickerson, a light-hitting defensively talented outfielder. Dusty Baker will use his newest player, who hit .286 and eight homers in 73 games for Milwaukee, in a part-time role during the playoff chase.

2011

With the tying runs at the corners and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Curtis Granderson is picked off at first, ending the game as Mark Teixeira, the Yankees’ leading home run hitter, stands at the plate. The last out of New York's 6-4 loss to the Angels is the result of the seldom effective fake to third, throw to first move perpetrated by closer Jordan Walden, which easily catches the Bronx Bomber outfielder off the base when he attempts to steal second base on a 1-6-3 play.

The Dodgers rally for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, overcoming a six-run, seventh-inning deficit, for their fifth walk-off victory of the season. The team’s 7-6 victory over Tampa Bay is their 11th consecutive win in a one-run games, a span in which they have defeated ten different clubs.